Rice-y Arsenal embarrass Champions League masters Real Madrid at Emirates

In the first clash between Arsenal and Real Madrid since 2006, the Gunners emerged victorious thanks to two brilliant free kicks by Declan Rice and a third from makeshift center forward Mikel Merino.

Arsenal were the closest to scoring unsurprisingly from a corner kick but William Saliba blocked Thomas Partey's header on the line.

Minutes later a slight scare for the visitors saw VAR check a possible handball on Raul Asencio but it didn't stand.

Relief for Carlo Ancelotti's side who were pretty much on the back foot before a defensive blunder from the hosts akin to the one in the opening minutes gave them a golden opportunity when Vinicius Junior forwarded the ball to Mbappe who blasted it over the bar.

That gave them some confidence as they tried to make things tick before the half-hour mark.

This paid off exactly on the half-hour when Bellingham found Mbappe with a through pass, but the French man's shot was too direct at David Raya.

READ ALSO: Cristiano Ronaldo’s luxury hotel catches fire in Morocco (Video)

The Gunners had their fair chance of opportunities created by star boy Bukayo Saka, who tried finding a non-existent target man twice with low crosses into the penalty area. The starting score sheet remained unchanged with both teams failing to capitalise on these chances.

However, just a few minutes to recess Arsenal came knocking again but Courtois denied Rice's header before Martinelli's strike struck the post. Tough luck for the Gunners, they couldn’t hit the target.

Gunners dominate second half

Arsenal were not backing down after the second-half whistle went, pinning Real Madrid just like they did in the opening minutes of the first half.

Ghana international Thomas Partey received the game's first booking in the 54th minute, just four minutes before Rice's spectacular free-kick gave the Gunners a deserved lead.

Courtois' brilliance was on display again with two brilliant saves to deny the hosts a second in the 68th minute.

However, he had no chance to stop Rice again from a set-piece as the English midfielder hit a David Beckham-esque free-kick to double the lead.

Five minutes, later Merino handed the last dagger for Arsenal to coast to a comfortable 3-0 advantage leading into the second leg next week.

MUST READ: How beautiful Ethiopian women confused a Ghanaian team to be beaten woefully abroad

Before this clash, Arsenal had won five of their last seven matches against Spanish opposition (D1, L1). They are now the second English side to avoid defeat in each of their first three H2Hs against Los Blancos in this competition.

Read Full Story